Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

laetrile

(Encyclopedia)laetrile lāˈətrĭlˌ [key], name given to the chemical amygdalin, a substance derived from an extract of the kernels of many fruits, notably apricots, bitter almonds, and peaches. The idea that lae...

Farmer, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Farmer, Paul (Paul Edward Farmer), 1959–2022; American infectious disease doctor and medical anthropologist, b. North Adams, Mass., M.D. and Ph.D. Har...

Powell, Dawn

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Dawn, 1896–1965, American novelist, b. Mt. Gilead, Ohio. She came to New York City in 1918 and settled several years later in Greenwich Village, where she spent most of the rest of her life ...

Yeats, W. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yeats, W. B. (William Butler Yeats), 1865–1939, Irish poet and playwright, b. Dublin. The greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature, Yeats was ...

wheat

(Encyclopedia)wheat, cereal plant of the genus Triticum of the family Poaceae (grass family), a major food and an important commodity on the world grain market. Wheat is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, ...

magic, in entertainment

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig lo͞otˈvĭkh mēˈĕs vän dĕr rōˈə [key], 1886–1969, German-American architect. A pioneer of modern architecture and one of its most influential figures, he is famous...

ecology

(Encyclopedia)ecology, study of the relationships of organisms to their physical environment and to one another. The study of an individual organism or a single species is termed autecology; the study of groups of ...

Picasso, Pablo

(Encyclopedia)Picasso, Pablo (Pablo Ruiz y Picasso) päˈblō pēkäˈsō; ro͞oēthˈ ē [key], 1881–1973, Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist, who worked in France. He is generally considere...

Rao, Raja

(Encyclopedia)Rao, Raja rou [key], 1909–2006, Indian novelist, b. Hassan, Mysore (now Karnataka), as Raja. Rao took his surname as an adult, and was educated in India and France and for many years divided his ti...